Alma the Overlander
by William Flamel
Summary: What would happen if a girl fell to the Underland rather than Gregor? And what if Magic got involved? Find out in this adaption of the story you knew and loved.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 1 The fall

It was a fairly warm day. An indicator that school was out and that summer vacation was here.

While most children would be out playing, celebrating their break, one girl was hiding in her bathroom, working on her homework her teacher had given her for the summer. She wanted it done and out of the way.

Joining her was her younger sister, who was only a little more than three. She was having a grand time chasing after a tennis ball.

The ball rolled to the older sister. "Play! Play!" the toddler cheered. The girl picked up the tennis ball, and rolled it to the other side of the room. The toddler giggled, and crawled after it.

It wasn't as if she couldn't walk. She just preferred to crawl everywhere.

On the other hand, the older sister was so wrapped up in her work that she didn't notice the room had gone quiet. So when the ball rolled over to her foot, she was prepared to throw it again. But she stopped when her sister was nowhere in sight.

"Rosie...? Rosie?!" she called. But there was no reply.

She was about to call again, when she felt a chill.

_That's odd..._ she thought. _I thought someone turned off the AC..._

There was a draft coming from the wall to her right. Which was even weirder, because there were no vents there. All that sat next to the wall was a drawer full of towels. And that's where the cold breeze was coming from.

_Or, more accurately... from behind it._ Is what she discovered when she ran her fingers along its side. She easily pushed it out of her way. It only held towels after all.

What was left in its place was a large hole, that was dark, and large enough for someone twice her size to fit through. And near its edge lay one of Rosie's little sandals.

The girl scooped up the sandal with one hand, and stretched her other into the darkness. _It only has to be two or three feet deep, right?_ She reassured herself, thinking Rosie would be sitting at the bottom, playing with dirt or something, perfectly fine.

But her hopes quickly faded when her hand didn't reach ground, or Rosie's curly hair.

She reached even deeper, into what seemed like an abyss, desperately reaching for her sister.

Her arm was up to her shoulder in darkness, when the hand that was supporting her slipped under her weight, and she fell.

When she didn't land on anything soon enough, she let out an ear-shattering scream that left her lungs burning. Because once she hit the bottom, she would surely be dead at the speed she was going.

But before any of the blood splatter happened, she hit her head on a rock jutting out the side of the tunnel. And it all went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 2 The fount

When she awoke, she shot straight up in bed. She was alive! But how...? Had that all been a terrible nightmare?

She looked down at her hands, and realized she was shivering. The cold hit her like a wave. She was soaked to the bone. She was sitting in some strange bed, which wasn't made of springs, or anything she was used to, and the sheets were all made of some kind of silk.

She looked around the room. It was small, and made of stone. Her shadow flickered on the wall from the light of a candle, which was the only thing lighting the small room. There were no windows, and there were few shelves, most of which were lined with trinkets she had never seen before. Just where was she?

Just then she heard giggling coming from the other room. It was Rosie! She quickly threw on a robe that had been laid at the end of the bed, and went into the next room to find her little sister sitting at a table, playing some kind of game with a man. When she saw that she was alright, she started tearing up.

"Rosie..." was all she got out before she ran to hug her.

"Hi, hi!" the toddler said happily, tugging on her robe. "You sleepy! I play with Ho-wa."

"Who now?" she said in between tears, when she looked at the man for the first time.

He looked almost alien to her. He was probably only two or three years older than her. But his hair was some kind of albino silver, and his eyes were a light lilac purple. His skin was so pale; you could almost see his veins through his skin. A kind smile was on his face when he spoke.

"Greetings, Overlander. I am called Howard. What might your name be?" he said with a slight bow.

"A-Alma..." she responded, clearly shaken up. "Wh-what are you, and where am I...?" she was holding Rosie protectively now.

"Do not fret, Alma. I will not harm you. You have fallen to the Underland."

"F-Fallen...? Underland?!" Things were somewhat starting to click into place. The hole wasn't just a simple mistake in the construction of her house; it led to a whole different place entirely.

"Many others have fallen before you. I hear that not many of them survive, which is why I was surprised when Corona found you in the river, still breathing."

"O-oh..." hearing that she barely escaped the claws of death made her legs start to shake again. "Can I get back home...? And, umm, also... who is Corona?"

He laughed. "I'm sure the Council will have a Flier take you home, once we tell them of your predicament. Corona is my Flier."

Council? Flier? What? What was he talking about? Sure, she was new here, but he talked as if she would understand. "I don't-" she was about to say, when a voice came from outside.

"Oh, Howard, is the Overlander awake?" the voice purred from the other side of a blanket made from some kind of reeds that was used as a door.

"She is." Howard called back. "Come in and Join us, Corona."

Alma expected Corona to be a girl decked out in some kind of outfits for whatever the "Fliers" looked like down here. But what fluttered in instead of her imaginative person almost made her heart stop.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 3 Howard and Corona

A beautiful turquoise bat with black stripes pushed the veil of reeds out of her way, and fluttered in. She stood some eight or nine feet tall, and had razor sharp blades attached to her claws on her feet, as well as the ones on her wings.

"Greetings to you, Overlander. You may call me Corona." The bat purred in a happy tone, which Alma almost didn't notice because of how scared she was.

"Biiig bat!" Rosie squeaked happily in response. "Co-na!"

"B-BAT?!" Alma said in shock, almost dropping Rosie.

"Oh! Did I say something wrong...?" Corona said, looking hurt. She looked to Howard for help.

"No, of course not Corona." He reassured her. "Alma is just surprised is all. We know Fliers also live in the overland, but they are significantly smaller than the ones in your colony."

Surprised? Surprised is an understatement! Alma felt like her knees could buckle any second. "Th-they also aren't that color... you're very pretty..." she managed to squeak out.

Corona sort of giggled, or that's what Alma guessed it was because it was a kind of squeak. "Why thank you!" she purred, her happy tone returning again. "But it pales in comparison to some others."

"Come on, you two. We should prepare to head for Regalia to tell the council of Alma's arrival."

While Howard and Corona went through the house deciding what to take with them, Alma and Rosie stepped outside. The Village of the Fount was rather small. Little stone houses lined the river, which trickled by calmly. Alma looked up at the sky, thinking it was night time... but there was no moon, or stars in the sky. In the darkness, she could barely make out the top of the cave several stories above her head. She was miles under the Earth's surface.

Across the river, about a dozen mice scurried around busily, in and out of caves that appeared to be their homes. One stopped to look at the two of them, waved its tail in a kind of greeting, and went back to work.

"Look, look! Mousies!" Rosie said happily, pointing to them from their side of the stream.

"Yes, I see them Rosie..." Alma said quietly. Giant Bats, mice, and odd albino people? What else could be down here...?

"Get ready to mount up, Overlander." Howard said, walking out with a fairly large backpack-like bag that he strapped to Corona's back. Alma walked over to them with Rosie behind her, when she caught something out of the corner of her eye.

She turned around, and saw a child and a grown woman that had the same silver hair and purple eyes as Howard. When the woman saw that she had spotted them, she ordered her child to go inside the house, and stared at Alma coldly. Just what was with the people down here?!

"Alright Overlander. Hand me your sister, then I will help you up." Howard said. He had already climbed on Corona's back while Alma wasn't looking.

She carefully lifted Rosie up to him, and when she took his out-stretched hand, she told him and Corona "You know, I would be much more comfortable if you two just called me Alma."

"We can do that." Corona replied cheerfully, as Alma took her place behind Howard. They sat back-to-back, with Rosie in her lap. Alma felt Corona beat her wings, and the Fount started slowly creeping away from her.

"Bye-bye, Mousies!" Rosie waved to no one in particular.

Alma looked to her side at Corona's long wings. Her full wingspan had to be somewhere around sixteen feet, because one wing was much longer than Alma's height. And if Corona was as young as she sounded, how big were the adults...?

"Umm... hey, if you don't mind me asking... what did you mean when you called Corona your Flier...?" She asked nervously.

"She is my bond." He said calmly, as if he expected the question. "Because we humans have such a strong alliance with the Fliers, we spend a lot of time with them. If a particular Flier and human become close, they may take an oath to swear to protect each other to the death, becoming bonds."

"Are you allowed to take the oath any time?"

"Yes, but the other must agree to it first. Otherwise, there would be no sense in it, for letting your bond purposefully die is punished by death."

Alma hesitated on her last question for a moment. "Are... are Overlanders allowed to have bonds as well...?" she asked shyly.

"There are no laws against it. But you may not have mine." he added jokingly, and everyone laughed. Rosie laughed to, only because they all were.

She was about to load them with more questions, but she didn't have time to. She sensed the faint glow of lights behind her, and turned to see the beautiful city of Regalia.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 4 Regalia

Alma could see candles illuminating the windows of the buildings, but that wasn't all. The city was also lit up by some kind of phosphorous, and other light sources she had never seen before.

The Streets which were made of set in stones fanned out all over the city to form some complex geometric pattern.

And the buildings had to be the grandest of all. Beautiful works of marble that seemed to give off a glow like shine were the homes of all the townspeople. The walls were so smooth you could probably see your reflection in them. Regalia's architecture put many modern cities to shame.

A Rusty orange bat flew up next to Corona, and a fairly muscular young man waved to Howard. "Greetings Howard! It's a pleasure to see you again!" he called to him.

"Same to you, Moranzo!" Howard yelled back.

"What brings you here?"

"I've brought a friend that I thought the Council might want to meet." he replied.

"Well, if you ever want to catch up, you know where to find me!" Moranzo said, giving Howard a sort of salute. He said nothing to Alma, but she could feel the eyes of him and his bond staring at her curiously, and suspiciously. The two banked to the left, and flew into the city, while Corona was headed for a huge, flawless stone building at the city's heart.

"Is that it?" Alma asked Howard.

"Yes, that's the palace." He responded. "That's where you'll meet the council, and they'll hear your case."

At that, Alma's pace sped up again. _Great. More alien people._ She thought to herself.

There was quite a lot of Bat traffic at the top of the palace. But when she looked over the side, she saw no one heading through the doors on the ground. "Why does everyone fly in?" she asked out loud.

"The Palace itself has no doors. Easier to protect from intruders that way."

_Intruders?_ She thought. Then quickly stopped herself before she let the question slip out. She didn't want to know.

Corona coasted to a stop inside the building, and Alma saw that the inside was just as flawless as the exterior, and the entire top of the Building had been left open so that bats could easily land and take off. but she didn't have very long to admire the architecture, because as soon as she hopped off, she was surrounded by more Underlanders, all with the same purple eyes and silver hair.

_So they all look like this. Got it_. Alma thought. _Just how offended would I make them if they could hear what I'm thinking...? _

"Take her to the Washrooms immediately." Someone who sounded in charge said. "Get rid of her overland smell." What? Did Overlanders stink to them? But she didn't have time to get out a question before they separated her and Rosie, and a woman led Alma away.

At the end of a hall, the woman led her into a room, and held out her hand to Alma. "Your clothes, Overlander."

_Oh, yeah, they probably need to wash them_.

She ducked behind a curtain, took off her clothes, and handed them over to the lady without stepping away from the curtain. As soon as she heard the Underlander's footsteps fade out of the room, she began to scrub from head to toe, attempting to erase her "scent" as much as possible.

One of the drainage systems she noticed had a huge opening that fell straight into the river. _That's nice to know. Just in case... _she thought.

When she was through, she peeked out from behind the curtain to see if her clothes had been brought back, but they were nowhere to be seen. Instead, Alma had been brought her own version of what the Overlanders were wearing. They somewhat reminded her of the clothes they wore in ancient Greece, but her robes were a nice emerald hue.

When she stepped out of the room, a woman holding Rosie was waiting for her. Rosie's old clothes were gone as well, replaced with a pink robe for her which fit her name quite nicely.

"Look, Alma! I all clean!" she said proudly.

"Rosie was such a good little girl." The Underlander woman said with a smile.

"Thanks." Alma said, Taking Rosie back from her. "What happened to our clothes?"

"Oh, those have been burned." She said as if it was nothing new.

"What?!" Alma exclaimed. Well, it wasn't as if they would be hard to replace... but she had really liked that shirt...

"Oh, it's much too dangerous to keep them down here. The rats would be on you in seconds." she added, looking concerned.

Rats. Oh, that was nice to know.

She thanked her again, and started on her way back down the hall. She wanted to find Howard and the Council, and get out of this place.

_But..._ she thought, second guessing herself._ All of the time I've spent down here hasn't been too bad... Well, the time that I've been conscious for anyways. Maybe if I took Rosie home first, I could come back later. I mean, what am I doing this summer anyways? _

Howard called out to her, breaking her train of thought.

"There you are!" he said, walking over to her. "I was wondering where you go to. Ready to talk to the Council?"

She smiled, not sure what else to do. "Ready as I'll ever be."


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 5 Luxa

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY WON'T SEE ME?!"

"They're arguing up a storm in there... They said no visitors right now..." Howard said with a sigh.

"That's... THAT'S...!" she was so angry, she wanted to swear. But she couldn't in front of Rosie.

"You too loud! Shhh!" Rosie scolded, putting a finger to her mouth.

"Yeah, I know Rosie... Sorry." She said.

_What am I going to do now? This isn't our world! Rosie and I can't stay here! _She thought franticly.

She stayed silent for another few seconds before asking "So what were they arguing about anyways?"

"Something about a prisoner." he replied. "But I know no more. They pushed me from the room before I could learn anything of significant value."

"The Council likes to put self-gain over the concerns of citizens." added a new Underland girl.

"Cousin." Howard said quietly, giving her a slight bow, while she just gave him a cold glance.

It was almost impossible NOT to notice the tension between them. So Underlanders had family issues as well?

The new girl's hair wasn't as silver as her cousin's. It was more like bleach blonde with a metallic tint. And it was woven into a long braid that stretched all the way down to her waist.

She looked to be about Alma's age as well, but acted older, or at least she thought she did. And that sassy way she put her hand on her hip told Alma all she needed to know. That she was dealing with an arrogant brat.

"Umm, so who are you?" she asked, even though the girl's golden headband practically screamed 'SOMEONE IMPORTANT!'

"I am Queen Luxa" she said, almost amused, like it was common knowledge. Alma was sorry she asked.

"Is this our Overland guest?" an old man said, walking up from behind her. Sheesh, they were popping up everywhere!

"Yes, this is Alma. She fell from the Overland just yesterday." Howard informed the old man.

"Ah, I see. Greetings to you, Alma the Overlander. I am he called Vikus."

"Yeah, umm... hi." she responded meekly, since apparently introductions are done for you here.

"Luxa, you and Howard should take our guest on a tour of the city." Vikus said, turning to Luxa.

"Fine." The young Queen said, not afraid to show her obvious dislike for the situation. She glared at Alma like it was her fault, and she just glared back, ungrateful for her guide.

"I hope you three will also attend dinner with me later." He added as Alma and Howard began to follow Luxa away.

Howard nodded politely to the old man, while Luxa kept walking.

Luxa ended up leading them back to the room they first entered in. She put her hand up, and a shimmery golden bat landed in front of her.

"Shiny bat!" Rosie said excitedly.

Luxa gave her an odd look before climbing up on her bat. "Mount up." she said stiffly.

"Will Aurora be able to carry all of us?" Howard asked wearily.

Luxa glared at her cousin like that was a terribly insulting thing to say about her bat. "I will be fine; it is only a short flight. Thank you for your worry." Aurora said with a smile.

_Well, at least the bats are nice. _

"What about Corona?" Alma asked Howard.

"I do not know. She said she had something to do here, so she will not be joining us for a while." He said thoughtfully.

"Oh." was all she said. She would have preferred to fly with a bat she was already somewhat acquainted with, but she climbed up on Aurora's back anyways.

"We fly! Go ride!" Rosie said happily in her arms.

"Yes we do, little girl." she responded, trying to get her to sit down.

As soon as Alma got Rosie to hold still, Aurora spread her long golden wings, and lifted into the air. As soon as they cleared the top of the building, Aurora flew down to the city.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 6 The arena

Howard and Aurora both had a grand time showing Alma and Rosie around the town. Rosie did too, since she got to ride around on Aurora the whole time. They showed her around markets, repair shops, and the roads farmers brought in crops on.

_Crops? Down here, with no light? How does that work? _She wondered to herself.

But she could tell by how much she was groaning and rolling her eyes that Luxa thought this was the most boring thing in the world.

When she muttered "this is so pointless" for the third time, Howard shot her an annoyed glare. But Alma was fed up.

"Alright then, what do YOU think we should do, 'Your Highness'?" Alma yelled in frustration. Then her hand flew to her mouth. That may have been a little much…

And Luxa was mad. But it didn't last long, for her angry glare turned into a smirk. "You want to know my idea?" She said, holding her head high.

Alma looked at her suspiciously. But she had already stuck her foot too far in her mouth anyways, so whatever. "Sure." She said coolly.

"Luxa…" Aurora tried to say, but Luxa put her hand on Aurora's head to quiet her.

"Follow us to the arena. That is… if you can keep up." She said as she hopped back on her bat.

She was going to make her run? _Well fine. _She thought. _I'll show her. I bet she can't even run a mile if she flies around on a bat all day. _

She was about to break into a sprint, when Howard grabbed her arm. She turned around to see him shaking his head.

"My cousin is terribly competitive… Don't get sucked into her pointless games." He said with a worried expression.

"Well, I'm competitive too. And I'm not about to be shown up by some poser." She said, turning back around.

He looked at her funny for use of the word 'poser', but he at least got what she meant.

_And at least Aurora has Rosie. _She thought as Rosie called out to her.

"Alma runs fast!" She said cheerfully. She was probably remembering how fast Alma ran when she was doing the mile. Then she saw Aurora lift her golden wings, and she sprinted off. She could hear Howard running behind her as well.

But it didn't take very long at all for Aurora to catch up to her. In fact, Aurora was flying REALLY slowly just to make sure she didn't lose the two of them. And Luxa looked totally comfortable on her back.

When they finally made it to the Arena, Howard was out of breath, and Alma had to lean on the doors to keep from sinking into the grass. Because that would mean defeat.

Upon a closer look, it actually wasn't grass covering the ground of the Arena, but a neatly grown, springy moss. And the whole place was being illuminated by torches that were hung high on the walls of the arena, and the bleachers also stretched high above her head. She estimated that they could hold well over two-hundred people, bats, or whatever.

But nowhere near that many were here now. On one side of the moss field, a big red bat was instructing a group. To the other side, she recognized Moranzo, the Underlander Howard had waved to when they first got here, who was training his own group.

Just then, Luxa hopped off of her bat to land beside Alma.

"I hope you are ready to duel, Overlander."


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 7 Orion and Ares

"D-Duel?! As in with swords?" Alma said nervously.

"Well, it's a weapon of your choice, but yes." Luxa said calmly, and then added "Do not worry. I'm not allowed to give you the luxury of being run through with my blade."

_Just what is her issue?! _She thought, and glared hatefully as she and Howard walked over to Moranzo.

Aurora fidgeted uncomfortably beside her. "I apologize about her... Would you like me to watch over your younger sister, Overlander?" she said quietly.

"Yes please. And don't let her watch." Alma responded, and Aurora flew up to the top of the bleachers to land beside the rusty orange bat that she recognized as Moranzo's bond. Then she ran after the two cousins.

When he saw the group walking over, Moranzo ordered his students to run laps around the arena.

"Greetings Howard, Queen Luxa. Brought our Overland friend, have you?" He said, almost sounding amused.

"She challenged me. Hand me my sword, and let her choose her weapon."

Moranzo nodded, and wheeled over a kind of cart filled with many weapons Alma had never seen before. But there was one kind she did associate with.

Down on the bottom, left-hand corner were a pair of beautifully carved twin daggers.

Her dad had taught her how to use a knife for self-defense... before he disappeared and left her, and her siblings with their odd mother.

Because of the memory of her father, she instinctively reached out, and picked up the pair of daggers. Luxa chuckled a bit at her choice, when the big red bat from the other side of the field fluttered over.

"Tsk... Another Overlander falls..." He remarked, scanning Alma.

"Yes." Replied Moranzo. "Overlander, this is Orion, the teacher of the younger bats here in Regalia. And the Overlander's name is... Alma, correct?" he asked her.

"Uh huh." was all she said. She was too busy sizing up Orion and his group of bats.

Orion had a big golden ring hanging from his left ear. Behind him was a small, dark green bat with black markings, which was joking with a taller, dark blue one. And a large, glossy black bat was observing her cautiously. And she could just tell that all three of them were juvenile, as in teenagers.

Orion scoffed, and turned to his little gang. "Can one of you tell me why she won't last long down here? Pluto? Columbus? ... Ares?" he said, narrowing his eyes at the last name.

The green bat Pluto and the blue bat Columbus both flinched when he talked at them, while Ares growled in response.

"She will not last... because she is neither strong nor athletic." The black bat muttered, and then glared fiercely at Orion.

"Good." Orion said flatly. "Maybe we'll make something out of you yet..." He added, but he obviously didn't really mean it.

She stared hatefully at them both. _Why is everyone down here so uptight?_

"Have you ever heard of 'Constructive Criticism'?" She asked Orion

"I am familiar with the term..." He responded edgily, obviously not very trusting of her.

"Well you're doing it wrong." She said, looking at her daggers, rather than anyone else.

She heard Pluto and Columbus chuckle somewhat behind her. It was an odd little laugh that that bats made, but she thought it was kind of cute. Even Ares hid his laugh with his wing, while Orion glared scornfully at all of them.

Alma was glad she had embarrassed Orion, but now, she was more intent on showing them what she could do. Orion, Ares, and Luxa all doubted her. Maybe even Moranzo did too, she didn't know. And as her grip tightened on her daggers, all she thought about was proving that she could hold her own.

Luxa smirked as Moranzo handed her an intricate sword that had three edges instead of two, making it no longer flat.

"Your move..." Alma said nervously.

Luxa's smirk faded, and she ran at her. And boy was she fast. Alma barely had a second to block.

But the sound of Luxa's blade hitting her knives was drowned out by the deafening sound of a gong.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 8 Rat Raid

The sound of the gong shook Alma from her head all the way down to her toes. She dropped her daggers, and almost lost her footing too. Ares, who was the closest, put his wing out to keep her from tripping.

"Wh-what was that...?" She said dizzily.

"An Alarm." Ares replied, looking at the tower that held the gong.

"They're here! The Gnawers are invading the city!" Someone on the tower yelled out before the gong sounded once more.

"Gnawers?!" Alma yelled, confused.

"Rats." Luxa said with obvious hatred.

"Mira! Aurora!" Moranzo called, and his orange bat landed next to him, while Aurora landed next to Luxa with Rosie.

Alma barely had time to object before she was pushed onto Ares's back, and he took to the air. To her left, she saw Aurora lift off too, and Luxa handed Rosie over to Pluto before he sped away to the palace.

"Rosie!" Alma yelled franticly, as if calling out would make Pluto turn around.

"He is taking your sister out of harm's way, Overlander! You will be reunited with her later!" Ares barely managed to say over all the uproar the alarm had caused.

"What about ME?!"

Ares was probably thinking of something to add, when Orion pulled up next to them. "You challenged the queen. Surely you can fight off a few gnawers." He said matter-of-factly.

So that was it then. They were testing her.

"Luxa! You and Aurora must return to the palace!" Moranzo shouted.

"We will stay!" She replied. Alma guessed that Moranzo must be Luxa's teacher as well, because he certainly wasn't afraid to yell at her.

"But the rats are after YOU!" he yelled, angry that she wouldn't listen.

Almost as if on cue, the rats broke into the arena. "There she is!" the leader cried, pointing at... Luxa or her?

Most everyone was off the ground. Three of Moranzo's students had hopped on Orion's back, while Howard, who had ended up on Columbus had one, and Moranzo and Mira another. But one student was still on the ground, standing at the other end of the field, too terrified to move.

Luxa and Aurora began to dive for the straggler, Orion made a sharp turn to fly away, and Ares, Columbus, and Mira all took positions to fight the rats.

Columbus did an abrupt turn to cut off a rat that was heading for Luxa, and Mira dove to fight another rat. What happened next seemed like a blur.

Ares about to hook his claws into a rat. A tail smacking him out of the air. Alma being thrown to the ground. Ares's wing being hooked by a claw. The rat about to chomp down on his neck.

When she saw Ares, her body acted on instinct. Her knife flew out of her hand, and imbedded itself right between the rat's eyes. It slumped to the ground, dead.

Ares looked from the dead rat, to her, and mouthed the words 'Thank you'. She barely nodded, shocked herself at what she'd done.

She turned around to see where the other three rats had gotten to, when it turned out one was right behind her. Her hand reached for her blade, but it was already too late. A tail moved to slice.

But instead of it being that rat's tail, it belonged to the one that was standing behind it... and it had stabbed the first one.

The rat that was still alive tossed the limp one aside, and smirked at Alma's shocked face.

"Surprised, Overlander?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! Gregor the Overlander doesn't belong to me nor my friend.**** My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on ****, her username is Alma, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 9 Ripred

Alma stumbled backwards out of surprise. Apparently rats spoke too.

She had already figured that the Rats and Humans hated each other. But why had this one saved her life? Why wasn't it tearing her open? Her knife was still in her hand, but she was frozen in fear.

The last rat in the group had seen it tear open its buddy too. It was confused at first, and then it became enraged. It charged at her, and the rat standing next to her.

Alma ducked. But when too many seconds passed, she sat up and looked behind her to see that the rat that had saved her had torn the other one's throat out, killing another one of its colleagues.

Luxa, who had forgotten all about saving the student ordered Aurora to charge at the rat.

But he seemed rather unfazed as he smacked Aurora to the ground with his tail, pinning Luxa under her bond. "Oh, be still pup!" The rat snarled as Luxa struggled to free herself.

Somewhere in all the chaos, Mira had exchanged passengers with Columbus, and he and Orion had all of them. The two bats flew to the top of the bleachers, out of harm's way.

Howard was on the ground, sword drawn. Ares flew over in front of Alma, snarling at the rat.

_What? Why is he protecting me? I thought he didn't like me... _She thought, trying to see the rat from around his wings.

"What Gnawer attacks his own kind?!" Moranzo interrogated the rat with his sword drawn, and Mira ready to dive in and strike if the rat made any sudden moves.

"One that wishes to discuss peace." The rat replied.

"Since when do Gnawers speak of peace?! Moranzo, kill him!" Luxa screamed, still trying to get out from under Aurora.

Moranzo seemed more than happy to take that order, when Mira dived. And his sword was aimed right for the rat's heart.

And the rat just stood there!

_After ALL THAT, he's just going to let himself be killed?! _She thought, as she tried to climb on Ares's back again.

"Overlander, what are you-" Ares was in the middle of asking her, when a big grey bat flew in between them, cutting Mira off.

"Stay you! Stay your hand, Moranzo!" the bat's rider yelled. It was Vikus!

Mira put on the breaks to avoid running into the two, and Moranzo fell off her back, half from the force, and half from surprise.

The rat just slouched slightly and gave a big yawn, while still keeping Aurora pinned. But Luxa had squirmed free.

"What is the meaning of this?!" she yelled, as soon as she was on her feet.

"Obviously, you did not tell them." The rat said to Vikus in a bored tone.

"We also did not expect you for another three days." Vikus replied, forcing a smile.

"Yes, well, I overheard these three planning a suicide mission, and I couldn't help but 'join' them, you see. " the rat said, gesturing to the dead rats. "Regalian cuisine was calling my name... and my stomach."

"Meet you all Ripred the Gnawer. He is an ally of ours in this war." Vikus said.

No one moved. No greeting, no wave, not even a respectful nod. Everyone left in the arena seemed to be glaring at Ripred. Suddenly, Alma realized that he was as out-of-place as she was.

"Umm... thank you for saving my life... " She said quietly. A few turned to look at her, and Luxa shot her a sharp glare.

"Well. It's nice to see that at least one soul here has manners." Ripred said, scanning all of them.

"I do not show manners to rats..." Luxa said coldly.

"Ares, if you could be so kind as to take Howard and Alma, and follow Orion and Columbus back to the palace. I have some things I wish to discuss with the rest..." Vikus said, looking at Luxa, Moranzo, and Ripred.

Ares nodded, and allowed them both to climb on his back. And as they pulled out of the arena, Alma looked back at Ripred. And she could have sworn she saw him wink.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this, you can find her on , her username is Kyomi, I believe. She wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 10 Bats, Rats, and Cockroaches, oh my!

When Ares landed in the hall, Howard jumped off his back right away.

"I must find Corona and inform her of these recent events...e-excuse me." Howard managed to get out before running off.

"Yeah..." Alma muttered, waving after him. "And I need to find Rosie... where is...?"

"Pluto." Ares replied. "But it is unlikely he still has her. He would have dropped her off with other children."

"Can you take me there? If you don't have anywhere else to be...?" She pleaded.

"I don't have anywhere else to be, but..." he ruffled his wings, and looked down a hall. Then he shook his head. "No, I can take you. Will it be alright if we fly?"

Alma blinked. "In these halls?" The hallways weren't small at all, but Ares was almost as big as Orion, who was full grown. In a few years, he would probably outgrow his teacher.

"It is of no trouble." he said, offering his back to her.

Alma looked at him nervously, but she climbed on his back anyways. "Just don't hurt yourself..." she muttered as he took off.

But he was right. It was easier than walking.

There were many times she thought Ares would scrape his wing on the walls. But he was surprisingly agile for his size.

"Hey, Ares...?" She muttered. "Who's your, umm... who's your bond...?"

"I do not have one. Nor does Columbus or Pluto. Orion probably would have made one in the past, if he was not an instructor."

"Oh..." She knew the whole bond thing might be possible for her. But she was going home as soon as possible.

And then there was that council. She couldn't explain it, but something about them unnerved her. What would they say about an Overlander having a bond?

_But... Wait, why do they even need a Council anyways?! Luxa was Queen, shouldn't she make all the decisions?! But then again-!_

"Overlander, we are here." she herd Ares slip in before she went on a mental rant.

"Oh, thank you." she said as she slid off his back. But she didn't move too far away. All of a sudden, she felt safer by the bat's side.

"Rosie? Are you in here?" she called into the next room.

Then a little blond head poked around the corner of the wall.

"Hi!" Rosie said cheerfully, and ran over and hugged Alma, even though she only came up to her knees.

"Oh, there you are! What have you been doing, Rosie?" She replied as she picked Rosie up.

"I went on ride! Ride with green bat! Ride with bug! Big bug!" she said, emphasizing with toddler hand-gestures.

"B-bug, huh?" she said with a nervous smile.

Just as she said that, a new Underland woman walked out of the room Rosie had come from. Alma figured she was the nanny. "After Pluto left Rosie, the crawler carried her here very swiftly." she told Alma.

"What's a crawler?" she asked.

"The crawler, I be, The Crawler." A strange voice said. Alma followed the voice to the right of the hall. And out of the shadows scurried a Cockroach almost twice her size in length.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this and she wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. I'm super sorry to all of you for being gone, I couldn't do anything with publishing and writing my own stories at the house desktop which the family uses. Now that I'm graduated from high school and gotten a laptop I can continue this. Anna wishes to continue writing so do expect more chapters in the future for sure but she does have school so don't be too harsh on when the updates come. ******Please NO flames, read and review!** **

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 11 A Regalian dinner

"HOLY SHI….!" Alma yelled when she saw the cockroach. She lost her footing trying to back away.

"Potty word! Sis, you said potty word!" Rosie scolded her. If anyone ever said a bad word in their house, another got to scold them. Their mom was strict.

Ares and the lady looked at her funny. Probably because they were confused about how that was offensive.

The roach's antennae twitched. "Hates I, the Overlander, hates I?" It said, sounding somewhat wounded.

"N-no, of course not, but... Sheesh, are humans the smallest down here?!"

"No, the Nibblers are the smallest race." The woman said.

"Nibblers?" Alma asked. Why did they have to have weird names for everything?

"They are called mice in the Overland, I believe..." Ares said quietly.

_Oh._ She thought. Then she remembered she had seen one at the Fount. It had been about the size of a golden retriever. But still, that was pretty big for a mouse.

"You should make haste." The Underland woman said, interrupting Alma's thoughts. "Vikus has requested all four of you to attend to the dining hall."

_Great. Yet another delay on the return home. _Alma thought. But her Stomach growled in protest. Even if she didn't like being moved from place to place, she was getting tired, and very hungry. Which made dinner sound all the better right now.

So she didn't make a scene when she climbed on Ares's back again, or even when the cockroach scurried on behind her.

"This Temp!" Rosie said, pointing at the roach for emphasis on her introduction.

"That's cool." Alma sighed without much enthusiasm, as the black bat spread his wings. There was no way she was remembering all these names.

When they landed, Alma practically stumbled to the floor. She would have sunken into a chair, if it wasn't for everyone else standing. So she huffed, and stood behind hers, waiting for permission to be seated when Vikus walked in.

"Greetings all. I am glad you could join on such short notice." he said as he strode over to the table. Accompanying him was a woman dressed in beautiful dark red robes.

_Probably his wife or something._ Alma figured.

She glanced over at the opposite side of the table where Luxa was standing to see her mutter something under her breath.

_So there's her. _Alma thought, starting a mental head count. Aurora was standing next to her bond, the seat removed from where she was to eat. Howard was also on his cousin's side of the table, with another spot that was probably prepared for Corona, but it looked like she wasn't back yet. And when Vikus and his lady friend took their seats at both ends of the table, there were only three seats left, and they were all on Alma's side.

"Yay, dinn-a!" Rosie squealed with delight as she struggled out of Alma's grasp. She hopped into the seat to Alma's left, and the roach Temp scurried up beside the toddler.

_Alright, so there are two then._ She thought with a sigh. _Who else are we waiting on?_

"Hey, Howard, where's Corona?" Alma asked.

"Umm... I do not know... I haven't seen her since we met with the council..." He said. It seemed to be worrying him quite a bit.

Alma Turned around to ask Ares if he was going to stay and eat, but to her dismay, the bat was already gone.

She saw orange out of the corner of her eye, and she looked to see Mira and Moranzo land in the hall.

_Oh, those two._ She thought. but Mira didn't pick a spot at the table, leaving the spot to Alma's right unclaimed. Until a gray figure sunk into the empty chair.

"This seat isn't taken, is it?" Ripred said, stretching out in the chair.


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this and she wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. I have a problem, you see I can be awake during the day but I can easily fall asleep however during night I'm wide awake while trying to go to sleep. I refuse to take drugs but does anyone have a suggestion. Here's Chapter 12...I think... **  
**Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 12 FOOD FIGHT!

"N-no..." She said nervously. Then she glared at him. That had been exactly what she wanted to do! The only reason she hadn't already sat down was because she thought it would have been out of line.

And it appeared that it was. Everyone at the table was looking at Ripred with obvious discomfort, but nobody spoke up. Except Luxa of course.

"I will not dine with a rat at our table!" She screamed at Vikus.

"Luxa, please-!" The lady who walked in with Vikus tried to say.

"Oh, it's useless Solovet. The girl is obviously beyond reason." Ripred groaned, with his claw already hooked on a bowl.

The woman, Solovet, gave him a fierce glare that would have made any normal person flinch. But Ripred didn't even acknowledge her anger.

_Oh, here we go..._ Alma thought, looking at both sides of the table. _This won't end well..._

Luxa, who probably really was beyond reasoning with, picked up some kind of food from the table, and hurled it at Ripred.

To Alma's surprise, it didn't actually connect with him - The hungry rat caught it with his mouth - though, it was enough to make Ripred narrow his eyes in annoyance. But Luxa held her glare.

"Alright. I see how it is." Ripred growled. "I hope you like your food the same way you serve it!" And with that, his tail whipped to the contents of the bowl, and threw some at her with lightning speed.

Luxa barely managed to block with her plate. The remainder of the thrown food ended up on the table, and on the shirt of Howard who was standing next to her.

Howard looked down at his shirt in mild surprise, when Moranzo, Mira, and Rosie all started laughing at him. Howard gave Moranzo an angry glance, which was quickly replaced with a smile when he threw some kind of fish at him.

And that's when the room erupted in flying food.

Alma had to pull up a plate to keep from being hit when something from Luxa came sailing her way. While Luxa herself was busy trying to dodge an onslaught from Moranzo, Howard, and Ripred.

Rosie was thoroughly enjoying herself as well, sticking her hands in some kind of porridge, and slinging it across the table, even though it didn't go very far. Then she hopped out of her seat, ran over to Ripred... and giggled as she wiped her messy hands on his fur.

Alma looked at them both in horror, afraid of what Ripred would do. She knew from the way he was fighting in the arena that he would be able to snap her own neck in an instant. And her little sister...? She didn't even want to think about it.

But to her great relief, all Ripred did was soak his tail in some sauce, and smear it on Rosie's nose and cheeks. "There. You're covered in food too. Now go on back to your sister, pup." he muttered, pushing Rosie back to Alma.

Rosie giggled again before showing her hands to Alma. "Look! I play with food!" She squealed.

"O-oh, yes you did, huh? Now let's get you cleaned up, little girl." She said while still shielding her head with the plate.

"Yes, I do believe it would be best to leave, and prepare you for your trip home. If you would come with me." Vikus said with a sigh, walking over to her, also shielding himself with a plate.

"Oh, right! Come on, Rosie." She said, grabbing her sister's messy hand, and leading her away from the food fight, with Temp scurrying along behind.

"I apologize for you having to witness that catastrophe. I hope it does not affect your opinion of us negatively." Vikus said as soon as they reached another room.

"Oh, no. That was a tense situation. I think everyone needed a little relief." Alma said, trying not to add to the old man's worries.

"You are too kind Overlander." He said with a sigh of relief. "And now... I am sure you would like to return home. I shall arrange for my flier to take you to an opening to the Overland."

"Oh, thank you!" Alma said, ecstatic to hear that she could finally go home. "But, umm... Would it be alright if I asked to fly home with Ares?" she added meekly.

"Hmm? Ares? Are you sure?" Vikus asked, a little surprised.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Since Corona wasn't here, she felt more comfortable if she could fly with a bat that she was at least somewhat familiar with.

Vikus stared at her for a moment, seeming a bit confused. then he smiled and said "Alright. I shall send for him."

After getting some help from another Underlander, both Alma and Rosie were clean once more.

When they came out of the bathroom, with new robes, Vikus was waiting with Ares. "Will you be capable of taking her to one of the gates to the Overland?"

"I will take her as far as I am able." The bat replied, dipping his head.

"Oh, thank goodness! I, umm, wanted to fly with someone I knew. I hope you don't mind." Alma said, picking up Rosie.

"It is of no trouble" was Ares smiling?

"We should not waste any more time."

"R-Right..." Alma said as she set Rosie up on Ares's back, then began to climb on herself.

"Bye bye, Temp!" Rosie smiled at the cockroach.

Alma looked at Temp. Since she picked Rosie up from the Underland nanny, he hadn't left her side. Did cockroaches like kids or something?

"See you again, princess, see you again?" The roach said hopefully.

_Princess? What the heck is that all about?_ Alma thought

"Yep! see you soon!"

"Yeah, sure." Alma said with a nervous laugh. _Oh, we are so not coming back here. Not if mom has anything to say about it. _

At Vikus's signal, Ares spread his wings, and they rose into the air. Alma turned to see Vikus getting smaller in the distance. She waved before he disappeared entirely.

After a few minutes, they reached the Fount, and the river that ran around it. Ares followed the river into a higher cave. Then Alma began to recognize her surroundings.

"This... This is the sewers!" she said, looking at the smooth, round concrete walls.

"Yes, one of the gates to the Overland is here in the man-made tunnels." Ares said. Then he landed, and nodded to a hole in the celling corked by a manhole cover. "I will not be able to go further than this. Will you be able to get home from here?"

"I'm not sure. Let me look..." Alma responded. With the bat's help, she managed to push the cover off, and found herself in the kind of public bathrooms you would find in a park. And when she opened the door to look outside, she was right.

"It's Crosswood park!" she said, taking in the Overland scenery. It was sunset already. She would have to hurry home.

"So you know where you are?" Ares called from the tunnel.

"Yeah, yeah I do! We can get home from here!" she said, running back to the hole.

Ares allowed Rosie to sit on his head so she could get out. As she hopped on to the floor, she petted him on the head, and said "Bye bat!"

"Thank you for everything, Ares." Alma said, picking up Rosie again.

The bat nodded. "It was enjoyable flying with you. Fly you high, Overlander" He said, before he ducked back into the darkness, and disappeared from her life. Or so she thought.

_Oh, that must be a kind of farewell._ She figured at the last moment. "Fly you high, Ares!" She shouted before he was too far away.

Rosie giggled, and said "Fly you, fly!"

Alma laughed too. "Come on, Rosie. Let's go home before our family freaks out."


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this and she wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Monster Hunter X (Generations) came out a few days ago and I really wanted to get it but alas no money in my pouch. Need to get a job. I hope you've enjoyed the story so far because Anna has enjoyed writing it and bugging me to update these past few weeks so here I am *grumble grumble ...no sleep...* **  
**Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 13 Guess who's going to be dinner!

Alma stood in front of the door of her house, holding Rosie's hand. She hadn't actually thought this through. What the hell was she supposed to tell her mom?!

"Alma, I hungry." Rosie said tugging on her hand, and pointing to the door, as if Alma couldn't see it.

"Hungry? Rosie, we just ate!" Alma said, looking at her sister in shock.

Then a voice came from the door. "Hello? Is someone out there?"

It was her mom. Her voice sounded tired and weak.

"U-umm, yeah, it's us, mom. We're home." Alma said unsurely.

There was a pause. Then she spoke up. "… A-Alma? Alma, is that you?" she said, some life returning to her voice. But before Alma could answer, the door was thrown open, and a blonde woman with bright blue eyes, the spitting image of Rosie, was standing in the doorway.

"Oh… oh, Alma, it is you! And Rosie too!" Her mother cried, running over and hugging the two sisters with tears in her eyes.

"Mommy!" Rosie squealed, hugging her back.

"Yeah. We're home, mom." Alma said.

"You have no idea how happy I am to hear those words! Come, come inside! I'll make us all a big dinner!" she said, dragging them both into the house.

Alma plopped into a chair at their table, while her mom placed Rosie in her booster seat, before heading into the kitchen.

"Sis?!" Alma heard a voice call from the other room.

"Jason!" she called to him. At the sound of his name, her brown haired and brown eyed older brother ran into the room.

Alma always figured that she and Jason got their brown hair from their father, since they obviously didn't get it from their blonde mother. And Jason probably got his brown eyes, which are a dominate gene, from their dad too. But Alma could never figure out where she got her green eyes from

When Jason saw Rosie, he kissed his little sister on the forehead.

She giggled, and said "Jay Jay!"

"What happened to you two? Where were you?!" He said, looking urgently at Alma.

"I-It's a really long story…" She said, startled by the force in his voice. She felt so crappy about making them worry about her and Rosie.

"Yes, a long story that we can discuss as soon as dinner is ready. Jason, come and help me please." Their mom called from the kitchen.

"Yes mom" Jason groaned, and gave Alma a look that said 'You owe me an explanation' before walking out of the room.

Alma sighed, and ran her fingers over the pattern in the granite table.

When her mother and Jason returned with spaghetti, which was the family favorite, they both laid into Alma with questions. Most of which Alma made up answers to on the spot.

She told them that she had gone over to a friend's house for a few hours, and carelessly forgot to tell anyone where she was going. Her mom wasn't home from work until later, after she had fallen to the Underland.

"But how come I didn't notice you leave?" Jason challenged her.

"Oh, please, Jay. You wouldn't have noticed if the world was ending, since you're so busy on your computer all the time, you nerd." Alma shot back, hoping that would work.

Jason pretended to look wounded, but he couldn't help but smile, since he knew she was right.

"Well, I'm just glad you're home dear. But, please, do try to be more careful next time." Her mother said with a tired smile on her face.

"Yes mom." Alma said, still feeling rather ashamed of herself.

After cleaning up the dinner table, Jason took Rosie, and let her sit on the couch with her while he played video games. Alma and her mother still sat at the table.

Her mom had her hands on the table, and had her head bowed in such a state of exhaustion, that Alma only felt a deeper stab of guilt in her heart.

"Mom…? Are you gonna be okay…?" She asked wearily.

"Oh, don't worry dear, I will be fine… eventually…" She sighed. "But you know… you really shouldn't have come back." She said, her tone suddenly taking a dark turn.

"Huh? What was that, mom?" She asked, figuring she must have heard her wrong.

"I guess I should be grateful." Her mother mused. "I mean, this assures me that the job gets done." She said with a solemn expression as she raised the steak knife. "But, you know… I really hate getting my hands dirty."


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this and she wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. I'm too tired to update you on my life, here's chapter 14 enjoy. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 14 Goodbye childhood…

Alma stood up so fast, she knocked her chair over. Then she smiled, and broke into nervous laughter. "Ha ha, very funny mom! …Now put the knife down." She started slowly backing away.

"You still think I'm not serious dear?" She said with the kindest smile. So kind, it almost looked as if she didn't even know she was holding a knife! Almost.

Alma's jaw dropped in disbelief. "J-Jason! Get Rosie, and lock yourself in your room!" She cried without looking away from her mother.

"Huh? Alma, what's going on?!" He yelled, the sound of his controller dropping to the floor as he stood up, which was followed immediately by Rosie's crying.

"No yell! No Alma, no yell!"

"Do not listen to her Jason, she's lost it!" Their mom said, also not looking away from her target, her own daughter.

Jason ran into the kitchen to see what was going on, but as soon as he saw his mom with the raised knife, and the threatening posture, he scooped up Rosie from the couch, and dashed upstairs. The sound of a door slamming followed his exit.

"Oh, I'm the mad one, huh? Says the lady holding the knife!" Alma said with a crack in her voice. She turned and ran for the stairs too, with the sound of her mother's footsteps right behind her. She was right on her heels.

As soon as she cleared the top step, she turned and ran down the hallway, and took out the dagger she didn't lose while fighting in the Underland. She had been hiding it with the belt loops of her shorts.

But her mother was distracted. She pounded on the locked door of her son's bedroom. "Jason?! Jason, be a good boy, and open the door for mommy, so she can end your sister's whining!" she said, jerking the door handle, while Rosie was letting off a high pitched wail. But no sound came from Jason, who was probably stunned into silence with shock and fear.

While her mother continued to try and break down the door, Alma ducked into the bathroom, and shoved the drawer over the hole out of the way so hard, it fell over, and all of its contents spilled out.

Alma collapsed near the hole and started yelling. "Howard! Corona! Ares! Somebody HEEELP!" she screamed as loud as she could. Would anyone come?

She heard her mother still pounding on the door down the hall, and her sister, who was tired from wailing, was now sobbing hopelessly. "I said, OPEN UP!" their mom shouted in frustration.

"GO AWAY!" Jason finally yelled at her.

Alma clenched her teeth in anger, and ran out into the hallway. She threw her remaining dagger, and it imbedded itself in the door, right next to her mom's head. "Hey! Leave them alone, you old hag!" she yelled at her. It was scary having her mom try and kill her, but NO ONE messes with her brother and sister, and gets away with it.

"How… How dare you!" Her mom yelled incredulously as she turned around. "How dare you aim such violence and awful words at your own mother!" she shouted, taking steps towards Alma again.

"I'll do whatever the hell I want, especially when my 'own mother' is TRYING TO KILL ME!" She shot back, outraged. Then she ran into the bathroom again. To hell if she was going to die, she was going to jump through the hole, and drag her own witch of a mother down after her.

But her mom was fast. As soon as Alma knelt next to the hole, she kneed her in the side, and pushed her to the other side of the room. Alma gave a yelp, and collapsed on the floor.

Her mother raised the knife to bring it down on her back, but then saw the hole out of the corner of her eye, and her mouth fell open. "What… is that? Did you do that to my house?!"

"That's been there, dumbass..." Alma said weakly as she sat up.

"INSOLENT CHILD!" She screamed, pissed that Alma called her that. She raised the knife again, with a scowl on her face, and Alma turned away, thinking hope was lost.

But that's when hope came through.

Alma saw the shadow of a wing on the bathroom floor, and when she looked up, she saw that Ares had flown into the bathroom through the hole to the Underland, and wasted no time in going after her mother, as he grabbed her arms with his claws.

Her mother gave a shriek of alarm, and drove her knife into his leg, right above the claw. Ares winced, but when she raised her arm to strike again, his wing knocked the knife out of her hand, and it fell to the floor.

Ares was trying to drag Alma's mother down into the hole, which was difficult since she was holding onto the edge of the bathroom sink, refusing to let go.

Alma reached over and grabbed the knife off the floor, and drove it into her mother's hand. She let out another shriek.

As Alma pulled the knife out, Ares pulled her mother over the hole, and dropped her into the abyss.

Her screams were drowned in the darkness, just as Alma's had been.


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note- IMPORTANT! This story does not belong to me nor my friend. My friend Anna wrote this and she wasn't able to upload it to fanfiction cause of stuff happening so she asked me. Has any of you been to Alaska? I made a friend at a National Debate Competition and this lovely girl from Alaska became friends with your's truly. I want to send a letter but I'm uncertain of how long it will take from where I live to her (somewhere with trees is my hint) maybe I'll just google it but my pillow is calling my name *yawn* I need a long nap even though it's night. Btw, my friend made me taste eel and gross I never want to eat it again. He said it has the consistency of steak the big liar. Anyways here's Chapter 15. I may or may not have another chapter coming soon. Please NO flames, read and review!**

"Speech"

_Thoughts_

Ch. 15 …And Hello Warzone!

Alma clamped her hands over her ears, and curled into a tight ball on the floor.

She didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to hear that woman's voice ever again!

" …ander? Overlander?!" She could hear Ares talking at her, trying to bring her back to sanity, even though she was trying to shut out the world.

"Overlander, are you injured?!" He finally shouted so loudly that Rosie and Jason probably heard him. Who cared at this point?

She sighed, and let her hands fall to her sides as she sat up straight again. "Not physically… I think. But mentally…" she trailed off.

"Who was that woman? Why was she trying to take your life?" He asked her urgently.

"That… was my mom." She replied weakly.

The bat stopped and stared at her. "Your mother…?" His stare seemed empty as he stretched out a wing to help her stand.

"Yeah." She nodded as she tried to stand up. "I couldn't tell you the why, thou-" she tried to say, before a sharp pain in the side where that woman had hit her ran through her body. Her stomach screamed in protest, and she fell back on her knees again. She wretched, and put a hand to her mouth. When she moved it away, she saw blood.

And Ares saw it too. "We need to get you to Regalia. You need medical attention." He said gravely.

"I'm fine, this isn't serious…" she said, about ready to throw up. And that's when Jason ran in.

"What happened to the shouting?! Where's mo-" he said, carrying Rosie, and panting, probably from the adrenaline. But as soon as he saw the big black bat that was standing way too close to his sister, his breath caught in his throat, and he fell on his rear end.

Rosie was wiping away her tears, still sobbing and hiccupping. But when she saw Ares, she tried to squirm free of Jason's grip, and crawl over to him. "Ba-at" she said with a sniffle, and stretched out a hand like she wanted to pet him.

"N-no, Rosie!" he said urgently, grabbing her, and pulling her closer to him.

"Me go! Me down…" She protested, but it was weak. They were all drained from the ordeal.

Except for Jason, it seemed. He was still huffing, and it was starting to worry Alma a little. "Jay, calm down… Ares is a friend" She said, finally pulling herself to her feet, leaning on the bat for support.

"Who is this?" Ares asked her.

"I-It talks to?!" Jason shouted, which made Ares cringe.

"'IT' has a name." Ares spat at him, slightly annoyed.

"Please you two…" She said with a sigh. Then she felt weird. Where had that come from?

"Jason is my older brother." Alma said, gesturing to him for Ares. "Listen, Jay. You need to come with us. Please." she pleaded quietly.

Jason recognized right away that Alma was hurt. But still, the idea of going anywhere with a giant talking bat didn't appeal to him. "How can I trust… Ares?" he said uneasily.

But for some reason, that only made Ares more upset, and he trained his focus on the hole. "He's saved my life, Jay. He helped me get home too." Alma said, as Ares helped her climb on his back.

"We need to hurry so your sister can be treated by Regalia's doctors." Ares said, opening and closing his wings.

"What's-" Jason started to say.

"Ask questions later." The bat said flatly, cutting him off. He was ready to get going already.

Jason glared at him, but climbed up with Rosie anyways. Ares shifted uncomfortably under his added weight, while Alma looked nervously at them both. They obviously weren't going to be fast friends.

The bat dove into the huge hole, tucking in his wings to squeeze through. There she was again. Miles under the earth. Then soon they were flying over the river that ran to the Fount.

Alma lay down, and buried her face in Ares's glossy black fur. Her entire stomach region ached from the abuse she received from her mother. She just wanted to lay in a bed now.

"Hey, Alma…" Jason said quietly. "Do you think… the three of us will be okay…?"

"I don't know Jay…" she said, voice muffled by fur. Frankly she was surprised she managed to answer at all.

Alma could tell that they were nearing Regalia when Jason let out the same gasp of awe as she did when she first arrived. She attempted to sit up again, but her stomach wouldn't let her. So Alma just laid there as she felt Ares come in for a landing in the palace building.

And she heard voices. Loud voices.

She turned her head to see none other than Ripred. And who was he arguing with? An Underland woman she recognized as the lady who was with Vikus during dinner. What was her name? Solovet?

"So, you decide to cut us all off from the rivers, which is our main source for food. And just WHAT exactly will this solve, Solovet?!" The rat snarled at her. Apparently that was her name.

"It will send a message. That anyone who is foolish enough to rise up against our forces will pay." She said forcefully, holding her head high in the same manner as Luxa did. "If you do not like it, you should tell your kind to be wiser."

"Oh, yes brilliant plan. And when us Gnawers are starving, and our pups are mewing for food when there is none, do you know who they will all come after for food? You." The rat said, circling slowly, with anger gleaming in his eyes.

Alma looked at them both in horror as she realized something that made her skin crawl. She hadn't brought her wreck of a brother and defenseless little sister to some fantasy land where they could escape the terrors of their own world.

No, the three of them just landed themselves right in the middle of a warzone.


End file.
